The Art of Seduction
by RainbowBrite64
Summary: Rachel Berry is set to audition for the role of an innocent girl transformed into sexy vixen after becoming involved with a charmingly seductive young man. She needs someone with expertise in matters of seduction and sensuality. Enter Noah Puckerman.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee.

**A/N:** As in all of my stories:** Rachel and Puck have not dated, Quinn is pregnant with Finn's child and they are happily together, Rachel and Finn are not interested in each other, Puck and Quinn are not interested in each other.** At the beginning of this particular story, Rachel and Puck have established a civil relationship for the good of Glee.

* * *

Rachel Berry had never been one to back down from a challenge. And this was the opportunity of a lifetime. In the performing arts section of the newspaper, there was a listing for an open audition for the lead role in an upcoming theatre production in Columbus. In the interview with Barbara Walters that Rachel envisioned as being an absolute certainty in her future, this role would likely be the one that she would attribute as the beginning of her road to success. There was only one slight problem. For all her intelligence and sophistication, Rachel Berry lacked expertise in matters of seduction and sensuality. Unfortunately, the role for which she was determined to audition was that of a young woman who transforms into a sexy vixen following a cat-and-mouse game with a charmingly seductive young man. While Rachel felt that she could certainly relate to the character at the beginning of the play, she was worried that she would not be able to depict the transformation with believable accuracy during her audition. Simply put, Rachel Berry was as innocent as they come and she didn't know the first thing about behaving in a sexual manner. Essentially, Rachel needed someone to teach her how to be sexy.

As she entered the hallway of McKinley the next day, she was greeted by the sight of Noah Puckerman with his tongue down the throat of a Cheerio right next to her locker. As usual, Rachel was disgusted by Puck's loathsome behavior. Although they had established a tentative truce since he joined Glee, their interactions were minimal outside of the Thursday meetings. However, even Rachel would have to admit that there was a small part of her that was drawn to Puck's rakish attitude and smoldering eyes. She was only human after all and Noah Puckerman was a "fine specimen of raw masculinity" (at least according to Kurt). Rachel realized that a unique opportunity was standing before her…a real-life "charmingly seductive young man". She knew that Puck was the person who could teach her how to act in a sexy manner. He was certainly sexual enough to teach her his 'ways' and he definitely would be a harsh critic if she was not fulfilling the role accurately. She didn't necessarily like it, but it was clear that the only person who could assist her in this learning process was none other than Noah Puckerman.

Rachel spent the entire day preparing herself for asking Puck to help her. It would not be her proudest moment for certain and she knew that chances were that he would not agree to help. There would be no reason for him to help. Her only consolation was that perhaps Puck would accept tutoring as payment for his assistance. She knew that if his grades remained low, he would have to stop all extracurricular activities. She finally cornered him in an empty classroom between 7th and 8th periods. She quietly snuck up behind him and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Jesus, Berry, scare the crap out of me much?"

"Hello, Puck. I have a proposal to make and I request that you consider the proposition thoroughly before responding. You see, I am preparing myself to audition for a role in a thrilling new play. The situation is unique, however, in that due to interactions with a charmingly seductive young man, the character begins to fulfill the sexy vixen archetype. While I am certain that I possess the emotional depth to depict the transformation of the character from innocent girl to sensual woman, my knowledge of the physical manifestations of such a transformation is limited."

Rachel could see that Puck was confused and realized she would need to boil this down for him. "Okay, basically, I don't know how to be sexy and I need you to teach me."

A moment of silence ensued as Rachel took a much-needed breath and Puck contemplated her request with a lascivious expression on his face.

Puck smirked and with an eyebrow raise, finally responded. "So, basically, what you're asking me here, Berry, is to corrupt you?"

"No! I am _not _asking you to engage in any sort of sexual activity with me whatsoever. I'm merely acknowledging that you have a certain expertise and requesting that you assist me in developing an understanding of the character so that I might have a successful audition."

"Okay, so if there are no sexual favors involved, what exactly is in this for me?"

"Well, I happen to know that you're failing most of your classes and that in order to stay on the football team, as well as participate in Glee, you need to bring your grades up."

"Oh, so you're gonna do my homework?"

"Of course not! And what good would that do if you fail the tests because you don't know the material anyway? I am offering to provide tutoring."

Another moment of silence followed. Puck tried to look everywhere except for Rachel's hopeful and pleading eyes, but they somehow kept drawing him in.

Puck exhaled loudly. "Alright, Berry, I'll agree to your 'proposition' on one condition."

Rachel nodded eagerly.

"I'm the teacher, so you have to agree to participate in _all _of my lessons."

"I am _not_ going to sleep with you, Puck."

"Jeez, Berry, did I say that you were? You said that the character gets involved with a charmingly seductive young man. I'm not stupid. Obviously, you've come to me because I'm that guy. So don't you think that when I'm teaching you how to be sexy, you should also get some practice in what it feels like to be seduced?"

"Oh, well, I suppose that does make some sense."

Puck smirked. Berry was just so damn gullible. All he wanted to do was set himself up for potential boob action at some point. And she had just basically given him permission to act as lewd as he wanted around her. The entertainment value of _that_ was his only reason for helping her out…and also because he really did need someone to help pull his grades up. And although she said no now, he was sure that he could get her to do at least some of his homework later on. He was pulled from his thoughts by Rachel's excited babbling.

"Thank you so much, Puck. I really appreciate it! We'll talk tomorrow to set up a schedule for our mutual tutoring of each other."

It was only as Rachel was skipping out of the room giddily that Puck realized that he had just signed himself up for spending practically all of his free time with Rachel Berry. The damage that could do to his eardrums and reputation aside, he recognized that the odds of actually being able to teach innocent Rachel Berry to be sexy were small. Yet, Noah Puckerman had never been one to back down from a challenge.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you all for the alerts/favorites/reviews…always greatly appreciated! I think it's the most reviews I've ever gotten on a first chapter! I hope I can make this live up to your expectations, especially considering I've got absolutely no idea where it's heading. Oh and while I don't think it will be particularly important to know the timeline, think of this all happening pre-Sectionals...keeping in mind that the Puck/Quinn/baby and Rachel/Finn situations don't exist in my universe.

* * *

True to her word, Rachel cornered Puck the next day during her free period, and this time, she had a color-coded schedule in her hand. She ignored his protests that he was headed out to the bleachers for some recreational enjoyment and dragged him into the nearest empty classroom. She laid her schedule out on the table, and encouraging Puck to think about his own schedule, she began discussing possible options for their 'tutoring sessions'.

"Now, I know you have football on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays until 5pm and of course, we both have Glee on Thursdays. It seems that Tuesdays are both available for us, but I think with us having to allot time for our mutual tutoring, we really should meet an additional two times per week at least. Let's see, in addition to my club meetings after school during the week, I also have vocal lessons on Monday evenings, improv class on Wednesday evenings, and piano lessons on Thursday evenings. I assume that Friday and Saturday nights are not possibilities for you. I wonder if…"

Puck smirked as he sauntered closer to Rachel until he was standing directly behind her, essentially trapping her against the table. As lustfully as possible, he said "Hmm, Berry, are you sure you can fit me in?"

Rachel just continued to focus on her schedule. "Oh don't worry, Puck. This arrangement is of utmost priority to me. I'm sure I can move some things around."

Puck took a step back. He was amazed. The double-entendre went completely over her head!

"Rachel! Fit me in. _You_ fit _me_ in. Get it? That was a sexually inappropriate comment and you didn't even realize it!"

"I'm glad you're able to recognize that your sexually-charged comments are inappropriate, Puck. Admitting you have a problem is the first step after all."

Puck's upper body shook with agitation as he spoke to himself.

"Jesus, she's going to kill me."

Rachel had never even looked up from her schedule.

"Okay, I've decided to drop improv class, so we can meet on Wednesday evenings after your football practice. Then we have Tuesday afternoons directly after school…I can cease participation on the school newspaper since they don't really appreciate me anyway. Tuesdays _are_ open for you, right? I assume you don't participate in any other school activities currently other than football and Glee."

Puck simply nodded with exhaustion from listening to her talk.

"Great. And how would Sunday mornings be for our third meeting?"

"_Afternoon_, Berry. Some of us have actual lives and do things other than color-code our underwear drawer on Saturday nights."

Puck could have sworn a look of sadness entered Rachel's eyes at his comment, but it was gone quickly and replaced with indignation.

"I'll have you know that I do _not_ color-code my underwear."

Relieved that he wouldn't have to experience guilt for reminding Berry of her social loser status, he fired back. "Well, yes, I suppose it would be difficult to color-code your white cotton panties, huh?"

Rachel's eyes narrowed. "Not that it's any of your business, but I happen to have underwear of diverse colors and patterns." _Why am I defending my underwear selection to Noah Puckerman? Why am I even talking about my underwear with Noah Puckerman?_

Seeing her lost in thought, Puck took the opportunity to move closer to Rachel and whisper salaciously in her ear. "Any chance of me seeing the many shades of your underwear in the near future?"

Pulled from her thoughts, Rachel was shocked by the closeness of Puck. She hadn't even noticed his proximity until his lewd comment. She felt the heat rising up her cheeks. Puck smirked with delight. The sole purpose of his comments and actions was to make her blush with discomfort. The operation was a clear success. Rachel daintily pressed her hand to Puck's chest to move him away from her. Rachel tried to ignore the fact that Puck had quite impressive pectoral muscles, while Puck tried to ignore the fact that he found Rachel's attempts to push him away with her tiny hand to be kind of cute. Noah Puckerman does not even _think_ the word 'cute'.

"I see your motive clearly, Noah Puckerman, and you will not get a rise out of me. However, as annoying as your behavior may be, I am willing to put up with it as long as you are assisting me with this predicament. "

"Hey, babe, this is me helping you. How are you going to act sexy if you can't even handle when I mention anything related to sex?"

"Hmm, well I suppose that I _should _build up immunity to your suggestive comments if I want to portray this character effectively."

"Whatever, Berry."

But Rachel had already turned around and leaned over the table to re-examine her schedule. Puck did not stare at her ass. Okay, he totally did, but whatever, he's him and she's kind of hot.

"Go ahead, Puck."

"Huh, Berry?"

"I'm waiting here. Catch me off guard with some inappropriate comment. However, please keep in mind that this does not give you free reign to constantly make obscene and offensive comments. I simply desire, at this particular moment, to begin the process of desensitizing myself to sexually-charged commentary."

Puck wished someone else were in the room so he could get confirmation that Rachel had said what he thought she had just said. _This girl is balls-to-the-wall, batshit crazy._ _Fine, if she wants to play it this way, I have no problem with that. _Puck was the master of all that was inappropriate and despite her not giving him 'free reign', he was more than ready to spend Wednesday evenings and Tuesday and Sunday afternoons bringing his best game. At least it would make the arrangement that he had unwisely agreed to with Rachel Berry a little more interesting.

Puck stealthily crept up behind Rachel and even though she claimed to be prepared for his next inappropriate comment, she was clearly unprepared for an inappropriate _action_. He stood directly behind her, closer than he had been earlier, so that her back pressed against his chest. However, Rachel did not even notice, likely because while _pretending_ to examine her schedule, she ended up actually examining it. Next, he gently moved her hair from next to her face to behind her neck. Again, she was oblivious. But when he softly blew in her ear, she _definitely_ noticed that.

"Puck", Rachel squeaked, "What are you doing?"

Puck stepped back as she spun around, bright red and not quite able to look him in the eye.

With his trademark smirk in place, Puck responded, "Just conducting an experiment. I'm heading out to the bleachers. I guess our first meeting is on Sunday, so I'll see you then."

"Okay", Rachel called out as he headed for the door. "Wait, where should we meet?"

Puck debated internally. The idea of going to Berry's scared the crap out of him frankly. Who knew what the nutjob had in her room. He'd probably end up watching _My Fair Lady_…not that he knew what that was of course. Meeting anywhere public was clearly out, but he didn't like the idea of bringing Rachel over to his house either. His mom and sister usually did go out on Sunday afternoons though for their mother-daughter time, so at least he could avoid those introductions. He finally decided on telling her to come to his place around noon.

"Okay, great!", Rachel responded, finally looking him in the eye.

Puck simply gave a quick upward nod of his head as he walked out the door, but moments later his voice echoed to Rachel from the hallway.

"Oh and Berry, you had better come prepared."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks again for the reviews. This chapter isn't going to be too sexy, but I'm going for a slow build-up here…laying the foundation a bit. Oh, there is some cursing so this is your warning.

**REMINDER: The baby belongs to Quinn & Finn.**

* * *

When Puck rolled out of bed at 11:30am on Sunday, he groaned as he realized that today was his first "tutoring session" with Berry. He kind of found amusing that she considered whatever it is that they would be doing to be 'tutoring'. As if being sexy was a class in school…though now that he thought about it, it really should be. It would be an easy 'A' for the Puckmeister. _Okay, yea, never call yourself the Puckmeister ever again._

Puck wasn't sure why he was surprised to be greeted with the sound of the doorbell ringing as he stepped out of the shower at 11:54am. Leave it to Berry to be early.

Meanwhile, Rachel stood on the doorstep of Puck's house wondering if perhaps she was at the wrong location. She had been ringing the doorbell for 3 minutes already and no one answered. She didn't have Puck's cell phone number, so she couldn't call him to verify the address. Finally, just as she was about to give up, Puck threw open the door.

"Jesus, Berry, chill the fuck out with the doorbell."

Rachel spoke as she rushed into the house. "Oh, Puck! I apologize immensely. I know that I'm early, but I was getting worried that I had the wrong house so I kept ringing the doorbell out of…"

Rachel trailed off as her brain suddenly registered that Noah Puckerman was standing before her in nothing but a towel slung lowly across his hips. She found herself unconsciously staring at the beads of water as they trailed down his chest. Luckily, Puck seemed to not notice her rapt attention to his appearance as he closed the door behind her. Rachel took a deep breath as she re-focused her attention, grateful that Puck hadn't noticed. She knew that with his physical attributes, he was probably accustomed to women staring at him, but the last thing she needed was for him to realize that she was very much aware of his hotness.

"I'm gonna grab something to eat. You can head upstairs. My room is the second door on the right."

Your room?", Rachel questioned with a nervous look on her face.

"Yea, my room. You know…that place with my bed and desk and stuff."

"Well, yes of course, but it's just that, um, don't you need to get dressed in there?"

Puck smirked. "Relax, Berry. I won't be showing you the Puckerman goods today. I'll grab some stuff from the laundry room."

_Is he planning on showing me the Puckerman goods another time?_

Berry made her way up the stairs and hesitatingly eased open Puck's bedroom door. Once inside, she took in the sight of his unmade bed and the unkempt floor with clothes spilling out of his dresser drawers and closet. The only part of the room that wasn't a mess was his desk…which likely explained his poor grades in school. She sat down on the chair and waited for Puck to return. When Puck came in, dressed and eating a breakfast cereal bar, he plopped onto his unmade bed.

"So, Puck, did you have an enjoyable Saturday evening?", Rachel asked in a prim voice.

"Yea, Berry, it was fun. Hung around with the guys outside the liquor store until someone finally bought us beer."

"Ah, well, that's nice. I had a fun evening as well."

Puck just grunted.

"I went shopping…with Tina."

_Why is she telling me about this?_

"Is this about what I said the other day about what you do on the weekend? It was just a joke, Berry. I don't really give a damn what the hell you do with your free time."

Rachel blushed slightly, embarrassed that he had so quickly seen through her attempts to bolster her social capital. She pulled out her notebook and sat with pen poised above the page. Puck leaned over and saw that written on the top of the paper was: "How to Be Sexy: Lesson 1".

"What the hell, Berry?"

"You said to come prepared!"

"That's not what I meant. Jeez, put the notebook away. There isn't going to be a test."

He lifted an eyebrow and stared at her until she did what he said. When she finally closed the notebook and placed it on the desk, he spoke.

"Okay, well first of all what kind of sexy are we going for here? Like slutty stripper sexy or like subtle classy sexy. Because if you're going for the first one, you could probably just follow Santana around for a few days."

"Oh, the second one, definitely. This character is a classy young woman who simply learns to embrace her sensuality."

"Hmm, okay, that'll be harder. Most of my experience is with the slutty type. Let me think about this…"

After giving Puck a moment to think, Rachel suddenly commented, "You find Santana to be sexy, huh?"

Puck was surprised at her question. "Um, yea, I guess. I'm a guy Berry…with a penis…we kind of get turned on by anyone that shows a little skin and lets us touch her boobs."

"Oh, okay. I guess it makes sense that guys like girls like her", Rachel responded a little sadly. She knew that people didn't particularly like her personality, but she didn't like the idea that if she ever wanted a guy to date her that she'd have to change herself into _Santana_.

Puck noticed the disappointment in Rachel's voice and for some reason felt compelled to respond. "I'm gonna let you in on a little secret here, Berry. What really turns a guy on is confidence. You're hot, Rachel. Like seriously. Even though they wouldn't admit it, I bet you more than one guy at our school has thought about your legs wrapped around him. You just have to _own_ your hotness…if you're confident about who you are, _that's _sexy."

With a tone of bitterness in her voice, Rachel responded, "Yea, well it's a little difficult to be confident when you're constantly washing slushie out of your hair and trying to scratch off pornographic pictures of yourself from bathroom stalls."

The guilt hit Puck like a sucker-punch to the gut. Ever since he had joined Glee, he had been confronted with the unsettling realization that Rachel Berry was an actual person…with _feelings_.

"I'm sorry about all that, Berry. I know I'm mostly to blame for some of the crap that you've been put through."

Rachel just shook her head and plastered a smile on her face. "It's fine. It will all just be grist for the mill to draw from in a future role on Broadway, I'm sure."

In a move that was completely out of character, Puck stood up from the bed and crouched down beside Rachel until she looked into his eyes. "Really, Rachel, I'm sorry."

"Thank you, Puck", Rachel responded softly.

As he stood up and plopped back onto the bed, she couldn't help but wonder…_is Puck one of those guys that has thought about my legs wrapped around him?_

"Okay, first things first…before we start really getting into this whole being sexy thing, let's see if you've got a grasp on the basics. Um, say hi to me in a flirty manner."

Rachel began to bat her eyelashes furiously. "Um, hey there, big guy."

Puck laughed so hard that he almost fell off the bed.

"Wow…just wow. Okay, clearly we have our work cut out for us."

"I'm sorry! I just don't know what you're expecting me to say…"

"Okay, Berry, clearly you can flirt better than that. I mean I've _seen_ you flirt better than that…back when you had a thing for Finn."

Rachel began to sputter, "I did _not_ have a thing for Finn."

At Puck's 'you're shitting me, right' face, she conceded, "Alright, fine, I did. But obviously that was before I found out that he and Quinn are expecting! And now that I've stopped seeing him through rose-colored glasses, I can clearly see that he would not be an appropriate match for me anyway."

"Whatever, Berry, I don't need your life story."

For some reason though, Puck felt a sense of relief when Rachel said that she realized that her and Finn didn't belong together, regardless of the existence of baby Drizzle or not.

"Okay, I think we've focused enough on me for today. I know you have a test coming up on Tuesday in math class, so I think we should turn on efforts to _your_ tutoring."

They spent the next hour working on math problems and though he didn't want to admit it, Puck realized that Rachel was actually really helpful. He found himself able to understand a lot more material once she explained it to him. When Puck realized that his mother and sister would be arriving home soon, he decided to usher Rachel to the door. The last thing he needed was his mother inviting Berry to stay for dinner.

As he opened the front door of his house, Rachel looked up at him

"Oh, Puck?"

"Yea?"

Rachel looked up at him through her eyelashes and placing a hand lightly on his forearm, she said, "When I went shopping with Tina last night, we went into Victoria's Secret. I bought some new underwear...and thought about you the whole time."

Puck's jaw unhinged slightly as his eyebrows rose. Before he knew it, Rachel was already halfway down his front yard. But when she looked back with a small smile and a questioning look on her face, he realized what she had been doing.

"Nice, Berry! Now, _that_ was a good one!'

One thing was certain. Rachel Berry was a quick learner.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry it's been awhile since I've updated. I stopped this to work on _Kissing Contest,_ but I think I'm back in the groove of this now.

**Reminder: **Rachel and Puck have not dated, Quinn is pregnant with Finn's child and they are happily together, Rachel and Finn are not interested in each other, Puck and Quinn are not interested in each other. At the beginning of this story, Rachel and Puck have established a civil relationship for the good of Glee.

* * *

As per their agreement, Puck met Rachel in the parking lot right after school on Tuesday. He shook his head as she walked towards him. Was this girl serious about her wardrobe? Not that he wanted to sound like Kurt, but what was with the plaid?

"Hello Puck. I'm so glad you remembered our meeting. Where should we go for our tutoring today?"

"Alright, Berry. It's clear what we need to work on here to make you sexier."

"I eagerly await your assessment."

"Yea, whatever. Come on."

Puck grabbed Rachel's arm and began to drag her towards his truck.

"I will not 'come on' until I know where exactly it is that you are taking me. Unhand me, Puck!"

_I do not have time for this. _And so, Puck ignored her question and simply picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He was rewarded with a rather up-close view of her ass. Her clothes might suck, but he'd never complain about the length of her skirts. He held her with one arm and picked up her ridiculous pink bag with the other. It would be easier to drag it on its wheels, but there was no way a stud like him would be caught dead wheeling a pink suitcase behind him. Rachel futilely beat her tiny fists against his back until he tossed her into the passenger seat of his truck.

"Well _that_ was unnecessary", she commented with her arms crossed in front of her chest and an annoyed expression on her face. Puck found it kind of amusing.

"I don't know about that. Now I've got firsthand knowledge of how hot your ass is."

Rachel's mouth opened in shock. She was so annoyed about him picking her up that she hadn't even thought about what the view was from his end.

Puck smirked as he strolled around to the driver's side of the truck, got in, and peeled out of the parking lot. Once she got over her shock, Rachel recognized that they were heading towards her house. She was grateful that both Dad and Daddy had to work late tonight because she wasn't quite sure what they would think of her bringing home a certain mohawked badass.

"Why are we going to my house, Puck?"

"Well, Berry, your clothes are ridiculous."

"My clothes are not ridiculous. I'll have you know that these are very fashionable…far more so than anything you wear!"

"For where? A knitting circle? Maybe a book club for old ladies?"

"My clothes are lovely."

"Okay, fine, they're lovely. But would you want to do yourself in them?"

"Excuse me?!"

"Let's put in this way. You're trying to be sexy. Those clothes are not sexy."

"So you're telling me that a horny teenage male such as yourself wouldn't 'do me', as you so crudely put it, because of my clothing selection."

"I'd do you in spite of the clothes, not because of them."

"Um, thanks…?"

"All I'm saying is that you're hot, so why not let your clothes show that instead of mask it. It's kind of hard to be sexy in an argyle sweater."

Puck wasn't about to tell her that he secretly thought she single-handedly made argyle look sexy.

"I suppose that makes sense. I am not going to completely change my wardrobe, but I am willing to part with some particularly offensive pieces and we can incorporate more 'normal' clothing from what I own."

As they pulled up to Rachel's house, Puck responded, "Well, then, bring me to your bedroom and we'll do it."

Rachel flushed a deep shade of red as Puck attempted to look completely oblivious to the connotations of what he had just said.

Rachel jumped out of the truck and led Puck into her house. They grabbed some drinks before heading into her bedroom.

As he watched Rachel sort through clothes in her closet, Puck took the opportunity to wander around her room. He walked around checking out what Berry had going on in here. Trophies. Pictures of Rachel in crazy costumes. Textbooks. Open underwear drawer. Elliptical machine. _Woah, go back a step, Puckerman._

From within the closet where she was sorting through her clothes, Rachel heard Puck's voice.

"Hm, Berry, you weren't kidding about your new underwear…"

"Huh?", Rachel commented absentmindedly as she emerged from her closet holding what appeared to be thirty-seven plaid skirts.

However, she soon noticed Puck standing in front of her underwear drawer with a mischievous expression on his face. He was twirling a leopard-print thong around his index finger.

"Puck", Rachel shrieked as she dropped her skirts, darted across the room, and squeezed herself between Puck and her underwear drawer, effectively pushing it closed. Unfortunately, she hadn't accounted for the fact that this placed her very close to Puck. She expected him to back up, but instead he moved forward to press his body right against hers, forcing her back against the dresser.

"I've got to say, Berry. I'm surprised…didn't know you had it in you…"

"Unhand my underwear, please."

Puck kept talking as if he didn't even hear her request. "I guess underneath those clothes is just a tiger waiting to come out."

"For your information, it's _leopard_ print."

Puck smirked. "My new favorite animal…"

Rachel was finding it increasingly difficult to converse while being so close to Puck. The edge of the dresser was digging into her lower back. She certainly wasn't an expert in this sort of thing, but she thought she felt _him_ pressing against her stomach. She wanted to be offended…she really did…but somehow offended was not the emotion going through her mind and body at the moment. Suddenly, Puck placed his arms on the dresser on opposite sides of her torso. Now she was really trapped. _Shouldn't 'trapped' feel worse than this?_

Puck had an evil…or maybe sexy…glint in his eye. Rachel wasn't sure what was going through his mind, but she could swear that he was about to pounce.

Puck leaned forward and brushed his lips into a soft kiss at the point where Rachel's neck met her collar bone. She let out a soft whimper and let her neck loll backwards. She felt Puck smile against her skin. Suddenly, all she felt against her neck was cool air as Puck pulled away and stepped back. The thong had been placed on top of the dresser.

"And that, Berry, is an example of how to seduce someone…"

Rachel blushed and averted her eyes as she stepped away awkwardly.

"Okay, well then, here are my clothes, so we can, um, go ahead and, um, pick out the good ones."

_Oh crap, she's embarrassed._

Puck felt kind of guilty. If he was completely honest with himself, he hadn't been trying to "seduce" her. He was actually turned on by their conversation and by Rachel being pressed up against him. It wasn't until he heard her whimper that he was jolted back into reality. He was even more turned on when he realized how responsive she was to his touch. Of course, now she was embarrassed because of how she whimpered when he kissed her neck. Puck couldn't think of a way to talk to her about it without making her more embarrassed, so he decided to just move to the safer topic of clothes.

"Well, Berry, these shirts are actually pretty good. Why do you always wear those grandma sweaters if you have these at home?"

"I wear those on the weekends. I want to be at my best presentation at school."

"Well, start wearing these to school. And wear these jeans once in awhile."

Rachel was taking notes…literally.

"Okay, jeans, these shirts, how about this outfit?"

Puck looked at her with his eyebrow raised.

"Okay, I get it, not this outfit", Rachel responded as she tossed it into the "no" pile.

She began to pick up her plaid skirts and shift them over to the "no" pile as well.

Puck grabbed one from her hand. "Not this one, Berry."

"But that one is plaid…you said no to the plaid…"

"Yea, but this one gives me the best view of your ass when you walk down the hallway."

"You are such a pervert", Rachel responded, but Puck noticed with delight that she returned the skirt to the "yes" pile.

After sorting through all the clothing in Rachel's closest and finding ways for her to maintain her signature style, yet appear more normal, they decided to raid the kitchen and work on homework in the living room together. Rachel put some music on in the background and Puck was surprised that it was actually music he liked and not just Broadway songs. The two quickly lost track of time as they alternated between talking and doing homework. It wasn't until Rachel's Daddy arrived home that they realized how late it was. Surprisingly to Rachel, Puck was rather pleasant when she introduced him to her father. Her father lifted an eyebrow in response to Puck's haircut, but seemed to like him otherwise. Rachel walked him to the door to show him out.

Puck looked past Rachel to where her father was in the kitchen looking through the mail. He placed a hand on her hip and jerked her towards him.

He whispered in her ear, "Next time you wear my favorite skirt, Berry, be sure to wear those leopard-print underwear. I'd love to spend all day trying to get another look at them."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**: Hello! I'm not sure if anyone is actually following this story anymore, considering it's been so long that _I_ had to go back and re-read it. I've felt guilty for not continuing it because I hate to leave things unfinished. So now, just shy of a year since my last update, here is Chapter 5. I promise to try and see it through the end!

Keep in mind that this story takes place back in the pre-sectionals season 1 world, so it's definitely AU in that way.

As in all of my stories:** Rachel and Puck have not dated, Quinn is pregnant with Finn's child and they are happily together, Rachel and Finn are not interested in each other, Puck and Quinn are not interested in each other.** At the beginning of this particular story, Rachel and Puck have established a civil relationship for the good of Glee.

Rachel had just finished a grueling Saturday afternoon ballet class when her cell phone rang. She hurried to her bag to answer it and was surprised that it was Puck.

"Yo, Berry, where are you? I've got something freaking awesome to show you."

"I'm just finishing up my ballet class."

"Cool, I'll meet you there. Where's the class? "

Rachel was too exhausted from her class to attempt to elicit any further information, so instead of questioning Puck as to the nature of this surprise, she told him where the ballet studio was and decided to get some additional stretching completed now that everyone else had already left.

About fifteen minute later, Puck arrived at the ballet studio. He was expecting Rachel to be outside but when he didn't see her, he decided to just go into the building.

He was forced to pinch himself when he walked into the room to be greeted by Rachel contorted into some wild position. Puck was a stud, but even he could admit that seeing Berry's flexibility firsthand put some fantasies into his head and tightness into his pants.

"Damn, Berry, how in the hell do you do that?"

As Rachel untwisted herself, she was unnerved by the raw desire she noticed in Puck's eyes. She looked away and briskly responded, "Many years of training. Now what is it that you need to show me?"

Puck grabbed her bag of the floor and practically ran outside, with Rachel fast on his heels.

"Isn't it awesome?"

"It's a motorcycle", Rachel commented in a flat tone.

"Yes, thank you, Captain Obvious. My uncle is in town and he's letting me ride it. I thought you'd want to take a ride."

"That's very kind of you, Puck, but I'm sure you have many friends who would thoroughly enjoy a ride with you."

"Yea, well, I'm not asking them. I'm asking you."

Normally, Rachel would never ride on the back of a motorcycle, particularly with a teenage boy who did not have a license to operate such a vehicle. Yet, she was strangely touched that of all the people that Puck could have chosen to ride with him, he asked her.

"I don't know, Puck…"

"You scared, Berry? Don't worry…you can hold onto this hot stud", Puck responded with a smirk.

That decided it for Rachel. Though he may not have been aware of it, Noah Puckerman found a surefire way to get her to do something…accuse her of being afraid of it.

"I am not afraid, though it is quite obvious that I am risking my life by getting on the back of this motorcycle."

Puck shook his head with a slight twinkle in his eye as he hopped on the motocycle. "Whatever you say, princess. Hold on tight."

As Rachel climbed onto the motorcycle, she became increasingly aware of just how close she would have to sit to Puck. Her face began to flush at this thought. She had become quite aware recently of just how uncomfortable she felt around him. Perhaps discomfort wasn't the exact emotion, but it felt a lot safer to choose than the other possibilities floating around her mind.

Puck noticed her hesitation to get close to him. He chuckled at her placing as much room as possible between them on the small seat.

"Seriously, Berry, you are going to fly off of this thing unless you hold onto me."

She hesitated, so Puck reached behind him and grabbed her arm to wrap around his waist. She inched forward gingerly, still attempting to maintain some proper distance, and added another arm loosely around his waist.

Puck revved the engine and flew into the street. Rachel let out a little yell as the proper distance between their bodies vanished. She clutched tighter onto Puck and a deep red flush spread from her face to her neck and upper chest. She could feel his taut abdominal muscles through his thin t-shirt and it wasn't an entirely unpleasant thing to feel.

"Where are we going?", Rachel yelled over the loud engine.

"It's for me to know and you to find out!"

"Mature..", Rachel muttered.

Just relax, Berry. Enjoy the ride and the wind in your hair."

Rachel _was_ feeling rather tired from her strenuous day of dancing. And Puck's back did look quite comfortable. She leaned forward and rested her cheek against his shoulder. Puck was shocked at the move, but smiled as he thought _I could get used to this_.

They finally arrived at their destination and Rachel's jaw dropped as they were somewhere she had never been before.

"It is absolutely beautiful up here. The view is breathtaking."

"Yea, it actually is kind of nice. I never really noticed it before."

"What on earth would you be doing up here that would distract you from such a view?"

Puck smirked. "You're seriously asking me that question? Here. At this lookout point."

"Yes, of course. What is it that you would typically be doing up here?"

Puck smiled softly to himself as he examined Rachel's face. She looked of pure innocence, but he knew her to be an excellent actress. Perhaps she truly was as innocent as she portrayed. Or perhaps she was simply demonstrating to him that she had been listening to his lessons on seduction. Frankly, he didn't care either way; she had asked a question that he was surely going to answer…and it would blow her freakin' mind.

Puck began to slowly stalk in Rachel's general direction and smirked at the sharp intake of breath she took when she realized he was heading her way. For her part, Rachel had noticed the tension in the air change as he headed her direction. She felt like he was a hunter and she was his prey. For some reason though, she wasn't afraid. She was surprised that Puck kept his distance as he walked in slow circles around her, but came increasingly closer with each lap.

Rachel's eyes unconsciously closed as she felt him finally some to a stop standing right behind her. Despite the cold wind, she could feel the warmth emanating from his body. She shuddered as she felt a calloused hand brush her hair over her left shoulder and she felt the gentlest brush of lips on the right side of her neck, just below her ear. She cursed herself inwardly as a whimper came through her parted lips. She absolutely hated letting Puck know what he could do to her with just a gentle touch. He continued placing feather-light kisses on her neck, moving downwards and following along her collarbone. His hands rested at her waist, descending tantalizingly lower with each passing moment. Rachel's thoughts were racing. _What i__s going on? Why is Puck doing this? Is this part of the lessons? Do I even care?_

Suddenly, the sound of a phone was ringing. Rachel heard Puck groan and opened her eyes. He fumbled while reaching into his pocket and she was surprised that he looked as out-of-sorts as she did.

"Yea, Finn, what's up….okay, yea that sounds good…I'll be there soon…I'm bringing Berry."

Rachel had been looking down at the ground, purposefully avoiding eye contact with Puck. But when she heard her name, her head snapped up and she locked her eyes with his.

Puck had already hung up the phone. "We've been invited to a party over at Brittany's."

"Oh no, I assume the invitation is just for you. As you know, though we socialize in Glee, I'm not typically invited to weekend festivities."

"It's cool, Berry. You can be my date."

_He can't mean an actual date, right? Noah Puckerman does not date. And if he did date, it wouldn't be me!_

"Yo, Berry. I see you're lost in thought there, but we gotta get going here."

Puck's words jostled her out of her reverie and she saw him on the motorcycle, engine on and ready to go. As always, his trademark smirk was in place. Rachel rolled her eyes. She really needed to stop letting Puckerman see just how unnerved he can make her. Holding tight onto her bag and Puck's back, Rachel stared at the setting sun and let her mind be quiet for just a little while. There would be plenty of time to re-run the events of the afternoon in her head later...


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**: Thank you for the reviews ! I'm glad to be back. This went a little differently than originally planned. Not sure where it's heading, but I hope you all enjoy! (And remember that the baby belongs to Finn & Quinn…no F/R and P/Q in my world.)

As they drove along back towards the residential part of Lima, Puck became aware of Rachel banging her little fist on his back. He could see her lips moving, but couldn't hear anything over the sound of the motorcycle. After letting her suffer for a few minutes (he could _feel_ her annoyance even if he couldn't see it), he finally pulled over.

"Jeez, Berry, you trying to hurt me?"

I'm terribly sorry, Puck! I hope it doesn't leave a bruise", Rachel began to apologize profusely before seeing the smirk on his face and realizing that her feeble attempts at getting his attention likely would not be leaving a mark on his skin.

"I have not been to a high school party before, but I highly doubt that my ballet outfit is proper attire for such an occasion."

"Okay, Berry to English translation…you need to change?"

"Exactly!"

Thirty minutes and stops at both Puck and Rachel's houses later, they were pulling up to Brittany's house in Puck's truck. As soon as they returned to his house, his uncle had commandeered the motorcycle…he wasn't thrilled his nephew had opted to "borrow" it.

Puck was a little surprised at the silence as they drove over to the party. Rachel Berry wasn't exactly the silent type. He could see her fidgeting from the corner of his eye. As they parked outside Brittany's house, she finally spoke for the first time since they got into the truck.

"Puck, I don't think I can do this."

"What do you mean? It's just a party. You know, drunk people and crappy music."

"It's not just a party to me! I'm walking into the lion's den. You're not the only one gets off by torturing me. The difference is that you've stopped.

"Okay, first of all, I love that you're talking about getting off. Secondly, trust me, when it comes to you, it's not the torturing that gets me off. And thirdly, you look hot and you're with me. No one will mess with you."

Puck noticed that his little pep talk did not quite have the effect that he hoped. Rachel still looked like she was ready to bolt out of his truck and run all the way home.

"Listen Rachel, I'm really sorry of all the crap I've put you through. And I get that the idiots in there haven't figured out what I have. But you're Rachel freaking Berry. You don't let other people stand in your way."

"That is true…"

"Babe, just trust me. I will not let anything happen to you in there."

"Okay, Noah, I trust you."

For the life of him, Puck could not figure out why he suddenly felt all warm inside at these words. When they reached the front door, Rachel leaned forward to ring the doorbell and Puck started laughing.

"Yea, we can just go inside, Berry."

Sensing a little remaining hesitation, he grabbed her hand as they walked inside. Rachel closed her eyes, just waiting for someone to yell about Manhands being at the party or what was Puck doing holding RuPaul's hand. And it never came. No one even noticed they were there. It was so strange for Rachel seeing all of these people without their letterman jackets and Cheerio's uniforms. She felt like she blended in far more than she ever did at school.

"Raaaaaaachellll. You're here. Santana said Quinn said Finn said that you would be coming, but I didn't think it was real. I missed you!"

"Hello Britt…umph", Rachel responded, practically falling over as Brittany hugged her.

"Wow, killer, drink much?"

"Puck! It's you too! And you brought Rachel. You two look pretty together!"

"Sorry about her, guys", Santana commented as she pulled Brittany off of Rachel. "Glad you finally got here. Puckerman takes forever to make himself so pretty, huh Rach?"

Quinn stumbled over to the group, due to supporting Finn on her shoulder, and said in a friendly tone, "Hi Rachel. Hi Puck. Finn's not doing so hot either. It's time for me to get him home."

"Noooo, whyyyyy Quinn. I'm not drunk."

"Well, sweetie, the baby's tired."

"Ohhh, Drizzle, I'm sorry. Let's go home right now."

Rachel chuckled. She had been thinking how unfortunate for Quinn to be amongst all of this mess while so pregnant, but she apparently knew how to handle things quite well.

As Puck led her to the kitchen, Rachel couldn't help but think about how the first few minutes of her first real party had been quite successful. She only chatted with fellow Glee members, but they seemed legitimately happy to see her there. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Until she heard Brittany's voice scream, "Time for Spin the Bottle!"

…or maybe it would be.

Before she knew what was happened, Rachel had been ushered into the circle by Santana, who was being surprisingly friendly. She was to her left and Puck was to her right.

The game began on the other side of the circle. Brittany got Mike. Matt got Santana. A football player got a Cheerio. Each time the bottle was spun, Puck could sense Rachel tensing up next to him. He heard her take a sharp intake of breath and not release it until the bottle landed on someone.

_What the hell is going on with her? She looks like she's freaking out majorly._

Finally, it was Puck's turn. As the bottle spun around and around, he finally realized it.

_Oh, shit. She's never kissed anyone! _

Puck understood now. She's never been kissed and she doesn't want her first kiss to be with some random dude in front of all these people who torture her.

His eyes had been locked with Rachel's, but suddenly he saw them go wide. He looked down. The bottle was pointed right at her. She didn't look quite as freaked out as she had when there had been the possibility of having to kiss a random football player. Puck didn't stop to consider why he found this to be a relief. Still, she did not look like she wanted to do this.

"Okay, everyone, the Puckerone thinks that it's time to up the ante on this. I'm changing this to 7 Minutes in Heaven."

He figured that by the time that much time had passed with them in the closet, the party would have moved on to something else. This way, Rachel wouldn't have to kiss him in front of everyone _and_ she wouldn't have to spin the bottle herself.

"Wait, what is that? What is that?", Rachel squeaked out frantically as Santana pulled her off the floor and ushered her towards the storage closet in the kitchen.

She felt Puck standing right behind her. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Trust me, Rachel" as the door slammed closed behind them.

Rachel stood in the dark.

"Noah?"

"Right here, babe. Just looking for the lig…"

And then there was light.

"Um, so I'm not sure what's happening here, but I get the sense that this heaven thing involves sexual intimacy and I really don't think that it would be appropriate for us to…"

"Chill out, Berry. I get it. You've never been kissed and didn't want your first kiss to be in front of all those people. So, this was me finding a way to stop that from happening. Don't worry. I'm not gonna defile you in a storage closet."

"Then why are you taking your shirt off?"

"They'll be swinging that door open in about 6 minutes and we've got to at least pretend something happened in here. Mess up your hair or something."

"Okay..."

And then they just stood there for a few minutes, unsure what to say. Rachel was embarrassed about Puck knowing her little secret…not that it was exactly shocking. For his part, Puck had never been in a closet without making out with a girl, so he just didn't know what to do.

I'm sorry about all of that seduction crap recently. If I had known that you were so inexperienced, I wouldn't have agreed to our little arrangement."

"Why ever not? It is a professional agreement, plain and simple."

"Rachel, you've never even been kissed. You want to tell me that when you've thought about someone kissing your neck like I did today, you weren't thinking of someone you actually liked in a romantic way."

"Well, sure, but you're someone that I could…I mean I can't say that I minded…I mean…", Rachel began before stopping herself from speaking.

"Mind what, Berry?", Puck smirked as he stepped into her personal space. Rachel couldn't tear her eyes away from his smooth chest that was right at her eye level.

_Is she saying that she does think of me in a romantic way? And why do I kind of like the idea of that?_

"Well it's just that you've been so nice to me lately and I could certainly think of worse people to have nibbling on my neck. Jacob, for instance."

"Ugh, don't ruin the mood talking about that douche."

"I just meant that your arms are rather lovely and I think that I wouldn't mind your hands touching me and I'm going to stop talking now because you're staring at me like you think I'm crazy."

"That is so not what I'm thinking right now. I'm thinking about how fucking turned on I am right now by you."

"No you're not", Rachel whispered barely audible.

"Yes I am. You're beautiful, Rachel. And talented and sweet and all that other crap that I didn't think I liked, but I apparently do.

_He like_s _me__?_

Rachel swallowed hard. The tension in the air was thick and she knew that if she just said the word, Puck's lips would be on hers.

And then the door swung open. "Time's up."

_Mood…effectively ruined._

Puck and Rachel stared at each other and both realized the moment had passed. When they walked out the door, it was as if they left it all behind. Neither was willing yet to consider how things could change if what they thought and said in that room weren't forgotten as soon as they crossed the threshold. Things couldn't change. It would be too much of a risk.

A few hours later, Puck was pulling up to Rachel's house. They had spent the rest of the party hanging out with each as if nothing had happened. Rachel found that she actually liked spending time with some of the people at the party, especially her fellow Glee members.

"I had a lot of fun tonight, Puck. I've realized though that perhaps I'm not ready yet for the role in that play. I think I need a little more life experience before I tackle the role. Besides considering the role includes nudity, they probably wouldn't let a 16-year-old audition anyway. So while I appreciate your assistance, I don't think I'll need these lessons anymore."

_Nudity? Well, damn…_

By the time Puck recovered from his shock, Rachel was already out of the truck and about to close the door.

"For the record, if you were in that play, I would so be in the front row."

Rachel shook her head in amusement.

"In spite of your ridiculous haircut and insistence upon sexualizing every little comment, I think I'm going to miss spending time with you."

In the blink of an eye, the door was closed and Rachel was heading up the walkway to her house. Puck waited until she was safely inside before driving away. It wasn't because he liked her or anything. It wasn't.


End file.
